Precooling unit for perishable foodstuffs



Sept. 30, 1941. -r. M. BELL PRECOOLING UNIT FOR PERISHABLE FOODSTUFFS I3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 13, 1959 fie By and M I A itorn zys Sept.30, 1941'. T. M. BELL 2 7, 21

PRECOOLING UNIT FOR PERISHABLE FOODSTUFFS Filed Dec. 13, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet-2 Inventor A ftomeys T. M. BELL Sept. 30, 1941. I

Inventor I 45/. 56// M A iiorneys struction,

Patented Sept. 30(1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PRECOOLING UNIT FORPERISHABLE FOODSTUFFS Trice M. Bell, Tampa, Fla. Application Decemberis, 1939, Serial No. 309,092

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a precooling unit, and has for the primaryobject the provision of a portable device of thischaracter which may beeasily and quickly moved from one place to another and brought intoposition for cooling the interior of a room or refrigerator car or truckso that perishable foodstuffs freshly packed and arranged therein may bechilled prior to storage or shipment and obviates the present necessityof placing such foodstuffs in cold storage plants for periods of timeprior to dispersement.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certainnovel features of con- 4 combination and arrangement of parts to behereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had tothe following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure lis a side elevation, partly in section, illustrating a portableprecooling unit shown connected to a refrigerator car and mounted formovement over a loading platform.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view illustrating thesame.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view illustrating aportion of the precooling unit.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view showing the airdischarge nozzle of the chilling unit.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 indicates a portablecooling unit, 6 a loading platform and 1 a refrigerator car. Thus fromthis illustration it will be seen that the car can be conveniently andquickly cooled for the purpose of chilling perishable foodstuffs whichhave just been loaded in the carfor shipment.

The portable cooling unit 5 includes a platform 8 mounted on wheels 9'so that the entire unit may be conveniently moved over the loadingplatform and brought in proper position for operation inconjunction withthe car. Mounted on the platform 8 is a vertically arranged casing 9 andlocated intermediate the upper and lower ends of said casing is achilling unit Ill preferably of the tube type through which a coolingagent is passed and also air is circulated for the purpose of loweringthe temperature of the air. The chilling unit In divides the casing intoupper and lower compartments II and I2 and arranged in the compartmentll just above the chilling unit I0 is a blower type electrically drivencirculator l3 which when in operation will bring about a circulation ofair from the lower compartment through the chilling unit to the uppercompartment and also will exhaust cooled air from the upper compartmentll through a discharge unit 14 and draw air in through an intake unit I5to the lower compartment l2.

The units l4 and I5 are arranged in superimposed relation and the unit Mincludes a series of air conduits [6 leading from the upper compartmentII to a common discharge nozzle H which is provided with tapered wallsconverging towards the discharge end of the nozzle. The nozzle I1 is soconstructed thatit will discharge air from the end thereof and fromopposite sides and to bring about the stated discharge of air arcuatelycurved baffles l8 are arranged in the nozzle. The, nozzle I! whenarranged to protrude into a car as shown inthe drawings will direct thecooled air towards opposite ends of the car as well as transversely ofthe car. The nozzle enters the car near the roof so that the chilled airwill be forced over the contents of the car and descend downwardly aboutand through the contents to be taken out of the car by way of the unitl5 thereby bringing about an eflicient and rapid chilling of thecontents of the car.

The units and are connected by a partition IS with suitable packing 20establishing an effective seal between said units and the partition. Thepartition about its edges is also provided with packing 2| to effect aseal with the jamb of a doorway.

Mounted on the platform 8 is a compressor 22 driven by an electric motor23 belted thereto, as shown at 24. Pipes 25 connect the compressor 22 tothe chilling unit H]. The compressor 22 is also connected to a condenser26,'as shown at 21. The condenser is mounted on the platform 8 and ispreferably of the water cooled type, the water circulating pipes beingindicated by the characters 28 and 29.

Thus it will be seen that a precooling unit has been provided which canbe economically manufactured and maintained in operation and can beconveniently moved from one place to another and quickly brought intouse with a car or some other confined area for the purpose of loweringthe temperature therein so as to chillthe contents of said area. Byhaving theunits I4 and i5 constructed as shown and described permits atight fit to be brought about between said units and the room or car towhich the de-' vice is adapted and an efficient chilled aircan berapidly brought-about throughof the car or room for the purpose, asbefore stated, of efliciently chilling the contents.

Hi and I5 have mounted thereon circulation of It is believed that theforegoing description, when taken in connection with the drawings. willfully set forth the construction and advantages of this invention tothose skilled in the art to which such a device relates, so that furtherdetailed description will not be required.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: v y

In a precooling device, a plurality of converging air conduits, a.nozzle connecting said conduits at the converging ends thereof and said1 nozzle tapering toward its free end and having said end and the sidesthereof open, groups of arcuately curved deflectors mounted in thenozzle and extending inwardly from the open sides of said nozzle andarranged in groups with the deflectors of each group progressivelyincreasing in length toward the open end of the nozzle for directing airthrough the open sides and the open end of the nozzle, a casingconnected to said condu'its, a. chilling means in said-casing, a powerdriven blower in the casing between said chilling means and the conduitsfor forcing air through the latter, and an air intake unit underlyingthe conduits and a portion of the nozzle and connected to said casing.

I'RICE M. BELL.

